A paedophile who admitted sexual activity with a child has escaped jail after a judge ruled his 13-year-old victim was a "sexual predator" who was "egging him on".

Judge Nigel Peters told Neil Wilson that he had also taken into account the girl had looked older than she was when sentencing him.

Wilson, 41, had taken the teenager into his home in Romford, Essex and watched her strip out of her school uniform before performing a sex act on him.

When officers searched his home after a friend of the girl told police about the incident, officers also found a collection images and videos containing child abuse as well as bestiality.

Despite pleading guilty to two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child, Wilson was handed an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Upon sentencing, Judge Peters told Wilson: "You have come as close to prison as is imaginable.

"I have taken into account that even though the girl was 13, the prosecution say she looked and behaved a little bit older.

"You knew she was not nearly 16 as she said, and your plea of guilty recognises that you knew.

"Allowing her to visit your home is something we have to clamp down on and in normal circumstances that would mean a significant term in prison.

"On these facts, the girl was predatory and was egging you on.

"That is no defence when dealing with children but I am prepared to impose a suspension."

As well as the suspended sentence, Wilson has been banned from contacting children, ordered to attend a sex offenders' programme and allow police to examine his computer. He will also be supervised by the Probation Service for the next three years.

Forced upon him

The court heard how Wilson met the girl when she asked him for cigarettes while she was playing truant from school.

Wilson then bombarded the girl with phone-calls and text messages for the next two weeks while she frequently visited his home.

Prosecutor Robert Colover told the judge: "The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced.

"She appeared to look around 14 or 15 and had the mental age of a 14 or 15 year old despite being younger than that.

"There was sexual activity but it was not of Mr Wilson's doing, you might say it was forced upon him despite being older and stronger than her.

"As for the images, there were eight found of child pornography, four of which fall into category three.

"There were also 11 images involving horses and dogs found on his computer."